WILMINGTON- It was a roller coaster finish Friday night for the Twin Valley High School boys’ varsity basektball team, as the Wildcats’ comeback fell just short, and the West Rutland Golden Horde rode home with the victory, 67-54. The score doesn’t do the resiliency of this Twin Valley team justice. Down 19 late in the third quarter, Dal Nesbitt got four of his 23 points on two straight steals, and gave his team a spark, cutting the score to 48-33. Before the quarter ended Eli Park, Nesbitt, and Colin Lozito all added buckets to cut West Rutland’s lead to 10.

The comeback continued in the fourth with Lozito hitting two more shots to begin the quarter. With six minutes left, Nesbitt hit the last of his five three-pointers and got the Wildcats within five, 53-48. With the game clearly out of their control, West Rutland called a time-out, and whatever Mike Lufkin told his squad worked. Joey Callahan knocked down his fifth and final three-pointer, sparking a 7-0 run, and the Golden Horde never looked back, outscoring the Wildcats 14-6 in the closing minutes.

“They didn’t hurt us all at once,” said Twin Valley coach Chris Brown. “It was a bucket here and a bucket there that got us.”

Jordan Pease keyed the victory for West Rutland, scoring 20 points, with Callahan adding 15. For Twin Valley, the only other Wildcat than Nesbitt with double figures was Sam Molner with 10 points. Nesbitt and Molner each finished with a double-double, recording 15 and 10 rebounds respectively. Eli Park added 11 rebounds, and Lozito had 11 assists.

“After this game we’re 5-10 but I don’t think we’re a 5-10 team,” said Brown. “We can play with any of these division IV teams, but it’s up to us to win. We had another awful night shooting, unfortunately, and we’re a shoot-first team.”

TV 74 Black River 27.

LUDLOW- Twin Valley rolled into town and beat up on the overmatched Black River Presidents Monday night, scoring a season-high 74 points, and allowing a season-low 27. Coach Chris Brown used all 12 of his available players, and all contributed in some shape or form.

This is only the third time this season Twin Valley has won by double digits. The first came at Proctor with a 14-point win in the second game of the season, and the second was against Black River on January 29, when they won 63-30.

Coach Chris Brown said his team was able to use the game to focus on ball control and limiting their bad habits. “We just came out and did the same drills, the same plays as we do every game and every practice, and we were able to run the lane hard when we got a turnover,” said Brown.

Colin Lozito had a double-double with 15 points and 13 assists, while Dal Nesbitt, who is averaging 18.8 points per game, had his third 20-plus-point game in four games with 22, and added five steals. Cade Nesbitt also recorded double-digit points with 14.

Rebounding was key to Twin Valley’s high score, with a total of 47. The Wildcats also recorded 15 blocks and 25 steals. Off the bench, Jason Moore and Justin Hicks combined for eight points.

Twin Valley sits at 6-11 on the season and will travel to Leland & Gray on Thursday for a 7:30 pm game.

Comment Policy

In an effort to promote reasoned discussion, transparency, and integrity in online commenting, The Deerfield Valley News requires anyone posting comments to identify themselves using their real name. Anonymous commenting will not be allowed. All comments will be subject to approval before posting, and may take up to 24 hours for approval to be granted.

We encourage civil discourse among readers, and ask that they be willing to stand behind their identities and their comments. No personal harassment or hate speech will be tolerated. Please be succinct and to the point. For longer comments, please consider submitting a letter to the editor instead. It will appear in both the print and online editions.

All comments will be reviewed, and we reserve the right to reject, edit or remove any comment for any reason. For questions or to express concerns feel free to contact our office at (802) 464-3388.